Never Fade Away: You Shall Never Have To Forgive Me Again (ch. 62) (Patreon)

“The situation in Japan has taken a dark turn, darlin's.

Some basic context first. The Japanese government is centered in Tokyo, specifically in one of its ‘special wards’ - parts of Tokyo that are basically cities in and of themselves - called Chiyoda. Right smack dab in the heart of the Megacity.

Two hours ago, Chiyoda City became the location of a major protest organized by a group called the… Heiwa no Michi, or ‘Path of Peace’. An incredibly popular group who… well, they didn't fight, they were explicitly against that in fact, but they were also against their government siding with the birds, and let them know about it through peaceful protests. Or that was their plan at least.

As y'all can probably guess, things didn't go to plan. Turns out, peaceful protests don't work on monsters and sellouts.

The protesters were slaughtered. Gunned down by cops, soldiers and birds. Almost ten thousand people came to protest the Turians, and it's still unknown how many managed to escape.

And that's because what happened in Chiyoda was just the start. Whoever gave the order, they clearly weren't satisfied bringing the boot down on just the Chiyoda protesters, because almost as soon as the bullets started flying, the Turians, the JSDF, the NPA, and various corporate security forces started enforcing a brutal martial law on the entire damn country.

Thankfully, they ain't doing so uncontested.

The Steel Dragons have redoubled their efforts at bringing them down, waging a full-scale war against the government, the Corpos, and the aliens. Public support for the Steel Dragons is at an all time high, with recruits flooding in from not just the civilians but also from those with the government that still have a conscience. They're also being backed by a few Corpos who hate Arasaka, namely the ‘Far Asian Co-prosperity Sphere’, who were Arasaka's biggest local rival and political opponent for decades before the aliens came and helped Arasaka take over.

The whole situation is developing rapidly darlin's, but I'll keep you posted as the deets come in.

As for news on the homefront… L is on the move. His ship was seen flying out into space, and while people are offering plenty of theories on why, my gut tells me that he's finally found a lead on Saburo Arasaka, and is going to finish that old bastard and his entire fuckin’ Megacorp off.

Hopefully for good this time.

In honor of this, here's a song that… ain't country. It was sent to me by a fella who thought it was on account of its music video having a cowboy in it, but it ain't like no country song I've ever listened to.

But it's fittin’ for the mood I'm in.

Here's ‘Judgment Day’ by Five Finger Death Punch.”

[MEDIA=youtube]S5QgTL37g-c[/MEDIA]

~

The tender moment was abruptly cut short with the announcement that the base had three minutes left until it self-destructed. Taking out my GBM, I pointed in the direction of the docking bay, and fired a single shot that carved a long line towards it. It was a dangerous method, but given that we were short on time, I didn't have a lot of options. Microbots began to pour out of my spine, creating platforms for the kids to climb onto with GN Drives giving them lift.

“I know it's sudden, but we have to go, kids,” I called out, and even with Zaeed leading the way, which prompted some others, the base would still explode before we got half of them out. Feeling a flash of guilt, I used the GN Particles to start dumping kids onto the platforms, keeping them not quite in zero g, but close to it and sending them up towards the Swordfish. There, they would be shrunken down-

The terrible sound of screeching metal brought my attention to the bulkhead door. It came from something beyond it, but a second screech warned me that something was coming. Or, rather, someone. If you could still consider Adam Smasher a person. “Becca, get the kids out of here,” I said, rolling my shoulders as every nerve ending felt a jolt of electricity, firing up in preparation for what I hoped would be my final round with Adam Smasher.

“W-what? L, this place is about to blow!” Becca protested, but I favored her a smile.

“I'll see you soon. Promise,” I told her and there was a third sound of rent metal that frightened the children, making them scream and cry out as they didn't understand what was going on, only that it was frightening. I saw a myriad of expressions flicker over Becca's face in that moment -- anger, surprise, uncertainty, but the one that won out was resigned acceptance.

“I'm going to hold you to that, gonk-for-brains. So you better keep that promise!” Becca swore, and before I could reply, the metal bulkhead door was ripped apart as if it were made of tissue paper. The first thing I saw was a blade -- an odachi -- that was sheathed in biotic energy, tearing the metal apart with intense and swirling gravity. My Sandy fired, time slowing to a crawl as I caught a good look at Smasher's new outfit.

It was smaller than the others, I quickly noticed. Only about eight feet tall. It was bipedal, with a single set of arms. Humanoid. More than that, I recognized the style of armor the machine seemed to wear -- a wide finned helmet with a snarling oni mask with fanged teeth, flat plates on its shoulders, and an armored skirt that hung to its knees. It wasn't a one for one, but it was as close to a samurai as one could get without sacrificing efficiency.

My knees bent before I popped a vibroblade out of my prosthetic arm, the GN Drive spiraling to life, pumping out enough particles to swirl around me and my blade to cut through the violent gravity wells, so we could clash in the middle. A high pitched whine filled the room, so high that I wasn't certain that normal hearing could detect it, but it sounded like nails on a chalkboard sped up times a hundred.

Despite the considerable size difference, I managed to stop him cold, though it was only with the help of the GN Particles. My jaw clenched as I gazed into the blood red eyes of the machine, watching out of the corners of my eyes as the room seemed to be crumbling inward towards our two opposing gravity wells. It was different from the ones I faced before, and I couldn't say that I liked it.

“Shepard-san,” The machine greeted me, and it took all of my self restraint to not blink in surprise.

“Knew it was too easy,” Johnny groused.

“Saburo,” I returned, pushing back against the hulking metal beast. Saburo allowed it, falling back towards the hole he ripped through. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that my vibroblade suffered the worst of that exchange, but as time resumed, the kids were quickly restored out of the building towards the Swordfish. Becca and V alongside them. “I figured you were another Smasher.”

To that, Saburo chuckled darkly. It was a strange sound coming from the hulking body. Unlike him, almost. No. Not unlike him. Every time we encountered one another, Saburo had been wearing a mask of a kindly but stern old man that was willing to entertain me. That mask had finally dropped and I was getting my first peek at who laid beneath it. “My Oni is here, with me. A sub program to a greater whole,” Saburo boasted and…

“So I get to kill the both of you at once? Nice,” I said, considering my options. I didn't like how he was using his biotics. It was new. And I was all too aware of the fact that they had a working prototype of me, however briefly. “I don't suppose I'm dealing with the only copies of you. You've been a pain in my ass as it is -- if I have to kill you a dozen times over across the solar system, I'm going to be pissed.”

Smasher was an AI. I knew that already. Hearing that he didn't have the reins in the body was surprising, but that didn't mean I could underestimate Saburo. If I had to guess what subprogram Smasher was in particular, I’m guessing it was offensive and defensive operations. Saburo would have all of Smasher’s skulls as a fighter, just without handing him the wheel.

“I don't believe that it matters, Shepard-san. For all intents and purposes, you shall die today,” Saburo swore, and I heard glee in his voice. The intoxication.

“All intents and purposes?” I echoed, tilting my head, willing to talk to buy enough time to make sure that Becca and the others got out. I got a ping that they were loading up on the Swordfish.

“Your brain is too valuable to dispose of. That, I will keep. Perhaps I will allow you to live on in a Relic, so that you can see the future I shall create. What I can achieve, with this power of innovation!”

“Self-destruction imminent. T-minus two minutes. Please evacuate the premises.”

“Want my brain? Come fucking take it,” I said, flipping him the bird with a smile that was all teeth. My synapses fired a fraction of a second later as Saburo darted forward and our blades crashed again. This one was different, I quickly realized, when the purple energy began to slide forward in a projected slash. Pivoting, I leaned out of the way as the purple energy sailed forward, pulling the room into itself, and after it as it tore through the walls, going through them like a cannonball through paper.

My hand shifted, the GBM emerging from my wrist, and I dialed up the power. Taking aim at Saburo's chest, I fired a shot. The shoulder plates glowed purple, a barrier emerging that the blood red beam struck against. Saburo was sent flying back, but the biotic shield managed to divert the path of the beam, as much as it deflected him out of the way. Saburo crashed through a ceiling and a wall and I was quick to jump in after him.

A mistake, I realized in hindsight when the GBM struck the outermost layer of the base, exposing the line that the beam had cut through it to the atmosphere of Jupiter. The very first thing I felt was heat. It was a sudden flash of it, going from a temperature controlled seventy degrees to a boiling hot followed with a blast of air that sent me careening into a wall. I landed on my feet, the sweat on my skin evaporating instantly while my prosthetic started to heat up.

Even a quick blast of Jupiter's atmosphere was utterly unbearable. Something that Saburo didn't let slip by him as he went on the attack while I fired off microbots to the hole that I had opened up with a bubbleshield attuned to keep the winds and heat out. Already, the room was sweltering, the metal sweating, and every breath felt like it was scorching my lungs.

I found myself on the defensive as Saburo went on the attack, jabbing at me with lightning quick thrusts as I beat a hasty retreat. In a second, we clashed a dozen times, and in three, we clashed two dozen more. The metallic halls and doors offered little resistance to either of our weapons, and I easily gave up ground to get away from the heat. It was moments like these that I really regretted not putting myself in that metal body. Being ninety-six percent chrome and steel would be pretty convenient right now.

I blocked a blow, finding myself being knocked back down a hallway. Flipping through the air, I landed on my feet, skidding to a halt as Saburo slowly approached, his blade cutting through the ground like butter. Time sped up, but I didn't take my foot off of the brakes. “So much power. So much potential. Yet you waste it. You should have bent the knee. You should have accepted your place. I remade the world without you, and with you, I shall remake the universe!”

“Fuck me. Are you really going to start monologuing?” I asked, finding myself exasperated. Saburo sounded drunk on power and his own hype. A dissonance, I figured, between having a body of steel and one of flesh and blood. The brain regulated emotions with chemicals and hormones.

Saburo hadn't adapted to that. Or, perhaps, the Relic technology had one final flaw in it.

His self control was slipping. I could use that.

“It is not your fault, not truly,” Saburo continued, shifting his blade up as I got the message from the Swordfish that it had left the building. Taking a moment, I sent out cluster bombs from it remotely to fill the air with GN Particles. Just in case Saburo was buying time for himself… and based on the momentary flash of hesitation I saw from him, I was right on the mark.

Five minutes was a little excessive for self destruction. You only really needed three to evacuate based on what I saw. Four was for a margin of error. Five minutes? That was because you were doing something that couldn't go any faster. Such as sending data somewhere.

However, he recovered and continued. “It is a failing of your people. Your culture. Had you escaped in Japan, raised amongst our way and our people, you would be more than what you are. You would understand my vision and you would gladly offer yourself to complete it.”

I could feel the disgust rolling off of Johnny in waves, but he didn't dare speak as I got ready for another bout. The GN Drive in my arm spun to life, ready to handle the-

Green?

My attention slipped for a fraction of a second as I saw intermittent green particles in the orange that I had learned to expect. There were only a few of them, and they faded fast with no more coming, but it was an alarming change. But Saburo didn't leave me any more time to think, closing in with a wide slash that I had to lean out of the way of, taking a step back before lunging at his wrist, only to catch him where his armor was thick. At the same time, my OS flared to life, doing a systems check on my arm to make sure it wasn't broken.

Saburo was moving slower. Deliberately. Mockingly. And as he did, he spoke. “Megastructures. FTL speeds. Mass fabrication. Limitless energy. The completion of transhumanism. The Japanese Empire shall re-emerge and with it, all of Earth will be crafted in its image. As it should have been.” There was a frantic, dangerous edge in his words. A mania that I had never heard from him before.

My system check came back and I barely had time to be puzzled by the results. There was a spike in energy output. A thirty percent spike. Nothing in the hardware changed, but…

Ah.

So that's what I was missing.

I threw myself back, letting myself get carried in the gravitational pull of one of his slashes to put some distance between us. The GBM emerged once more, and I took a shot. Saburo raced forward to meet me, his blade aimed for my heart, and it first struck the blood red beam. It spilled outward around the point of the blade, but Saburo was still being pushed back.

“The world isn't yours to shape. It's not yours to rule or conquer. Sure as fuck isn't mine either,” I yelled, bracing myself for a load of pain as the GBM punched a hole through the base. Searing hot winds howled as they flowed into the hallway, the gravity to the base flickering. My body felt heavier, denser, and I was really, really, really regretting not going full borg.

Saburo tossed his broken blade away, his armor glowing a white orange from where the GBM made contact. My prosthetic started to spit out a sputtering of green GN Particles, and I watched as the energy output climbed higher and higher. And that was without an optimized rig. With every passing second, more green particles spewed forth and despite the searing hot air, I breathed in deeply.

“Self-destruction imminent. T-minus one minute. Please evacuate the premises.”

“How naive. The world has never been for the people by the people. It has always been guided and shaped by men of vision. Men such as me,” Saburo replied, his hand going for a wakizashi that emerged from his hip.

“I think the world has had enough of men like you,” I said, preparing myself for what came next. The terrain wasn't in my favor. Saburo knew what I could do and had circumvented how I killed Smasher last time. And, with a body of flesh, bone, and blood, he was going to outlast me. The whole place blowing up in less than a minute didn't exactly help things either.

What I needed to do was to create an opening.

Saburo adopted a traditional sword stance -- both hands on the blade, arms up and angled for downward thrust at me. I adopted my own stance, steam wafting over me as the hallway grew increasingly unbearable. He approached slowly, each step measured…

Then he moved in a blur. And I met him in the middle. His blade darted down, and mine met his, with the tip of his striking the weak point in mine. I reacted instantly, positioning my prosthetic in the way to catch the wakizashi at the crossguard with my forearm, sparks dancing as I jerked it out of the way enough to stop it from skewering me anyway.

Saburo heaved up, yanking me into the air, with a triumphant laugh. “Perhaps my Oni had a point. The human body is weak,” he said, lifting me up so I was even with his glowing red eyes and snarling mask.

“No. Just you are,” I said, planting my feet against his chest and kicking off of him. My arm detached at the elbow, letting me flip back as the microbots from my spine poured out. Saburo lunged for me, only for his hands to strike a bubbleshield as he moved too quickly. “See ya’ in hell,” I said, flicking him the bird one final time, the microbots curling around me like a protective cocoon.

It was then that Saburo realized his mistake, dropping the prosthetic arm, but by that time it was already far too late. The GN Particles reduced my weight to nothing, and the high speed winds carried me off toward the hole that I had shot out of the base. Just as my discarded arm began to detonate, a singularity pulling the surrounding metal into itself, and Saburo was quickly caught in it. His arm vanished, his leg was being pulled up, light seemed to bend as his torso was as well. It wouldn’t destroy him, I was fairly certain.

But, the self-destruction of his base would.

Microbots flowed over my body and a second later, I found myself whisked away outside of the base and flung into the heart of the storm. The fabricator in my spine churned out microbots as the outermost layer of the cocoon melted together. I felt the full brunt of the five-hundred mile-an-hour winds, tossed every which way on the gas giant. The ensuing explosion from the Arasaka base didn’t exactly help things and the cocoon rocked dangerously.

“He’s dead?” Johnny asked me as I cannibalized whatever store of materials I had on my body to produce more microbots.

“He’s dead,” I agreed. “Gone with the last scraps of his company,” I said, a savage smile appearing on my face as the microbots began to shift and surge around me. A GN Drive. I had to make a GN Drive to get me out of the storm, and back to Becca. I did make a promise, after all.

It was easier said than done, I found as the harsh gravity and extreme weather fractured and damaged the microbots. Just to survive, I had to fill the cocoon with GN Particles, subverting Jupiter’s natural gravity that was so intense that my heart wouldn’t even be able to pump blood into my brain. My vision became filled with green particles as I worked on reconstructing the GN Drive to harness the power… the…

“L… Do you… feel that?” I heard Johnny ask me as my eyelids fluttered, my brain seemingly pulse and I…

I became aware.

“S- somethings wronghh…” I slurred, feeling myself go light headed. I wasn’t sure how to describe it, even if I tried, I don’t think I could come up with anything close. It felt like a puzzle piece in my brain had suddenly clicked into place, a piece that I hadn’t been aware that I had been missing. Or like a door to a hidden corner of my brain was suddenly unlocked and with it, every synapse in my brain fired off at once.

In the distance, I felt Becca. I felt V. I felt Becca’s concern, fear, and anxiety almost as if I were touching them with my hands. I felt V’s uncertainty, as if it was a precariously balanced ball on the point of a needle.

I felt more than that. I felt Saburo. I felt his fear, screaming into the void as the storm tore what was left of his body to pieces. I felt his life, if you could call what he had a life, wink out like someone was turning off the lights in a room.

I only realized how harsh my breathing had become, tears springing from my eyes, dripping down my cheek and my control lapsed. I could feel the charges that I kept at bay spilling forth without any control-

Charges have been spent

D̵̨͐̂ẽ̷͕͝s̷͈̈t̶͚̺̒ṛ̸͎́o̵̞̐y̴͇͛ ̴̨͐̐Ā̷̟̝̉l̸̨͍̎̽l̸̤̭̒̐ ̵̛̞͜H̸̠̆̍û̴͎̠m̸͚̖̂̀ä̸͚́̕n̴͖̉͐s̷̫͋:̵͖̱̀͘ ̷̨̪̆C̶̗̾͋ͅļ̵͙͛o̶̠͔͝ň̴̘̗i̷̦̗̐̀n̷̛̜̈g̸̭͐͝ ̸̙̺͂-̷̙̪̏̅-̶̭̃ ̵͍̕͘7̶̙̓

My eyes felt like they were going to roll to the back of my skull as the information slammed into me, filling my brain with pins and needles. Distantly, I heard Johnny screaming for me as hot blood dripped down my nose. The microbots swirling around me. Johnny was making the ship, I realized. He wasn’t able to do that before. Where was he- what-

I convulsed, my breathing hitching as my vision became static-

D̸̢̨̧͔̮̩̥̱͔͓̲̞̮͑u̵̩͓̻̗̖̱͕̰̱͊̿͗̾̽̔̑̆͆̊̕͝͝ͅͅṉ̷̨̧̧̨͉̼͚̟̮͉̳̱̩̟̮̓̋͜ḕ̷͉̟̫͚̓͂̂̐̈́̆̿̀͌̄́͋̎̕͝:̴̢̛̛̹̩̥͓̺͖̝̗̟̞̦̙̓̀͗́̄͒̽͂̈́̈́̈͆͜͝ ̶̙̰͎͈̠̰̹͔̩͇̯̤͓̪̻͓̞͛͛̿̊̊̈́͜K̷̰͔͇̍̈̚͝w̸̬̱͕̓̆̔̔̾̅̀ȉ̵̲̖̤̜͙͚͔̯̰̳̙̝̘̮̈́̉̀͊͝ͅs̸̗͇͚̜̣̆̾̆͊̔̏͑̀̊͘̚å̵̢͚̥̟̱̗̭͈̬͉͓̟͍̱̾̈́̀t̶̻̘̎̆͆̈́́̄̇̃̑̋̾̿̿̾̕̚͘͝z̷̡̨̛̛̻͙̩̼̲̻̳̀́̃͆̀̀͌̈́̇̊̌̿͜͠͠ ̸͍̰͇̎͂̔̇͆͠ͅH̴̞̼̦̖̭̼͑̓͊͌͊̊̀̆̄͆̅̂̑̆̚ā̴̙͖̭̯̖̦̲̈́̓̀̓̽̈̉͝ḑ̴̡̭̙̙͛̓̿ȩ̶̢̛̲͎̪̠̩̪̤͕͗̅́͆̍͋͂͑̈̈́͘͘r̸̨̛̓̊̒a̴̛̼̳̬͎͛͋̈́̇̅̈́́̽̅͐͒͑͝c̴̖̝̘͖̒̅͌͆̇̄̓͆̑̈͑̌̏͂̽̂͘͝h̶̢̧̯͇̦̯͖̹̗̗̖̏̊͆̈́ ̴̡̯̻̻̪̘͕̘̙̹͖͈̲̱͍͙̱̤͌-̷̧̧̞̲̠̦̪̟̫̻̬͖̇͋̾͗͑̾͌͂̉̍̈́̾͠-̴͕͓͌̂̂͆́̈̐́̽̈́͘͝͝ ̸̞͇̂͐̈1̶̧̧̧̡̼̭̝̗̳̬̮͙͈͆̑̀̽͑̀͛̄̓͒̌̃͘͠0̴̨͉͉̺̮͚̻̼͎̖̞̑͂̽͐̃̾̆̆̏̀̈̀̅͘͘͜

My vision went black… but that didn’t matter.

I still saw.